RWBY: Awakening
by Cocodigger
Summary: Master plans are fragile. One mistake can change the whole turnout of events. Even a devious mind such as Cinder's has a plan that will eventually fall apart. Follows the storyline up until Season 3, Episode 8. My first try at a story - advice is welcome!


**So… This is my first time doing one of these… Wish me luck… I will take advice any reader would like to give me. The story is canon up to the point that this takes place, near the end of season 3, episode 8, "Destiny." As such, this will contain spoilers up to that point. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

The Vytal festival was at its peak. The stadium hovered over Vale, like a watchful crowd roared in anticipation as they awaited the next one on one battle. Excited spectators took their seats or purchased concessions, and among those spectators was a particular huntress-in-training wearing a red cloak.

Ruby shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She had come to see this next match in the Vytal festival to get her mind off of things, but it didn't seem to be working. Ruby hadn't felt right ever since Yang's incident. She truly wanted, at heart, to believe that Yang hadn't attacked Mercury, but it was hard to deny what she had seen with her own eyes, as well as the evidence that hundreds of other eyes had witnessed. Ruby had made a promise, however, to trust Yang, but that didn't mean that all of Ruby's doubt had disappeared. Just then, Ruby saw something that only deepened her worries.

"Emerald?" Ruby thought out aloud, "why is she here?"

A burning curiosity sent Ruby on her way. It would be slow going to make her way to the complete other side of the stadium, but if Ruby used the outer tunnels of the stadium, she could use her semblance to make it to the other side faster. There would hardly be anybody to block her way there. Ruby made her way to the tunnel entrance, attracting the aim of curious eyes.

The tunnel entrance seemed to exude an atmosphere of foreboding as Ruby entered. It weighed heavily on her shoulders, and settled in her lungs, seemingly wanting to choke her of life. As Ruby raced down the tunnel against an invisible opponent, a real opponent appeared. Ruby skidded to a halt as a metal door on the left opened with a pneumatic hiss, and Mercury stepped out.

"Mercury...?" Ruby asked slowly, "I thought your leg was broken."

"PYRRHA NIKOS versus… PENNY!" rang through the tunnel. Mercury's grin grew wider at the announcement.

A cold, dark hand seemed to clamp over Ruby. Ruby had a million thoughts racing through her mind, like a million marbles trying to traverse the clockwork that was her brain. Everything was going wrong, and all of it in such a short period of time. Ruby tried working up something to say, but the million mind marbles were already jamming her brain.

Mercury began opening his mouth for the act of speech, but a reprimanding voice halted him. "Mercury! Really? You're supposed to stay out of sight, and let me take your place!" The voice was moderately deep, with a faint, almost like a growl, rumbling undertone; it was definitely masculine.

Ruby's focus shifted to a figure in the same door Mercury had stepped out from. Ruby couldn't make much out, but she could see he was wearing a black trench coat.

Mercury's cocky grin evaporated, a scowl taking its place. He tried responding, but the newcomer cut him off again. "What do you think Cinder would think about you ruining her plans with your cocky attitude, huh? Let me take care of this, and you get back into hiding."

Mercury turned and glared hatefully at Trench Coat, teeth grinding in anger. "Who said you could boss me around?"

Ruby tried to use the quarrel as an escape chance, but as soon as she moved merely an inch, both of their smoldering gazes locked onto her. That's when Ruby saw Trench Coat's face. He had dark hair, streaked with the occasional dark blue. He had a head shaped like a squashed teardrop, with a jagged scar running diagonally across the bridge of the nose. His eyes were black, but Ruby would later notice that they actually had a ring of blue nearly indecipherable from the rest.

"And this girl." Trench Coat drawled.

Mercury sneered. "What about her?"

"She knows too much already. You obviously have proven that your leg is completely fine, and you are not at your hometown."

"What do you suggest we do with her then?" Mercury inquired, mockery tinging his tone.

"Not we, just I. You've caused enough trouble"

Mercury growled, but stalked away back through the door; the entrance sealed behind him with a clang. Ruby was alone with Trench Coat. He walked towards her silently, a specter looking to end her life. Ruby barely knew hand to hand combat. She was pretty much useless without her weapon, against an opponent that was a full head taller than her, whom she also knew nothing about. She tried anyway. Ruby charged Trench Coat, looking to punch him with the fist she had drawn back. Trench Coat responded by easily sidestepping her attack, and tripping her with an extended leg.

Ruby got back up to her feet, but Trench Coat was already there, hooking an arm around her neck from behind and pressing a cloth against her face. Ruby let a muffled complaint, but it was not heeded. The chemicals in the cloth were inhaled, forcing Ruby into unconsciousness.

-=O=-

"You mean you haven't seen Ruby since the start of the attack?" Yang yelled through the scroll. Blake winced. Neither she nor Weiss had seen Ruby since the start of the Grimm attack. Blake had been so focused on dealing with the Grimm that she had forgotten to find the young leader of RWBY. They both had seen Ruby run off, but neither of them had decided to keep an eye on Ruby.

"I'm sorry Yang, but the Grimm distracted me. I'm sure that Ruby can take care of herself."

More VTOLs arrived, dropping in a hoard of Grimm at the stadium's docking area.

"Who would've known that the White Fang would work with the Grimm. I have more to deal with. We can talk later," Blake muttered, then pocketed her scroll.

Blake nodded to Weiss. They both sprang into action. Blake charged the Grimm, using her semblance to distract her target. She then used wide, cleaving cuts to sever its head from its body. The decapitated body slumped to the floor, evaporating into nothingness after a few moments. Four smaller Grimm leapt at Blake. She jumped back, slicing horizontally in the process. One of the four dropped to the ground, it's head sliced in half. The remaining three stopped, and crouched, growling aggressively at the Faunus. Blake used the temporary reprieve to her advantage. She fired out a line from her weapon, impaling the middle Grimm. The other two leapt at the sound. Blake swung the Grimm attached to the line to the left, knocking one of the Grimm aside; the creature fell from the stadium to its death. Blake kicked the other leaping Grimm, then retracted the line. The impaled Grimm was dragged to its oppressor, where a blade was buried deep into its chest. The Grimm evaporated, just like the others before it. Blake walked up to her last attacker and decapitated it.

Weiss had decided to take on the largest target. A massive Grimm covered in bone-colored carapace had dropped from one of the VTOLs. Weiss skittered around the Grimm's powerful, but slow swings. She jabbed into areas devoid of armor. Using her semblance allowed Weiss to keep her mobility above the monster's. The young huntress also used the Dust in her rapier to assault the creature with a variety of elements. The Grimm, however, eventually scored a hit. Weiss had abandoned too much of her caution, and decided to leap in the air above the Grimm's back, stabbing rapidly the whole while, but the Grimm swung its head backwards in retaliation,. Weiss's Aura sustained the blow, but she was thrown clear off the edge of the stadium. Weiss employed her semblance, creating a rune for her to leap from. The Grimm, upon seeing it's opponent returning, prepared to a massive blow. Just as Weiss was about to get within range, she altered her course with another rune, skipping upward like a stone does on a lake. The Grimm's attack only disturbed empty air. Its huge expenditure of energy left it wide open to attack. Weiss was now directly over the monster's head. Using a final rune, she leapt downward, the rune amplifying her speed. The Grimm's life was ended as its skull was punctured by a metal blade.

Blake and Weiss were now surrounded. They had continued fighting the Grimm, but the dozens of VTOLs had simply brought in too much Grimm for the two huntresses to handle. But what if there were more? Gunfire suddenly erupted all around the duo.

"Tear them to pieces!" a voice commanded. Blake couldn't decipher who the source was over the multitude of battle cries that sprang up.

Students charged into battle, the ground seemingly rumbling from their pounding feet. Suddenly, the Grimm weren't the ones that had superiority in numbers. The creatures were slaughtered; a wave of destruction consumed the dark mass. The hunters and huntresses utterly obliterated all that stood in their way. It only took a minute to convert the Grimm into a fading pool of darkness. The warriors cheered, laughing at how easy the Grimm had been destroyed.

Jaune ran up to Blake and Weiss. "Next time, don't try to take them all on yourself." A smile found its way onto his face, "you've got all of Beacon, and more, to back you up." Team JNPR behind Jaune showed their assent with nods and smiles.

The sound of engines interrupted the reunion. Dozens more VTOLs were incoming. The White Fang sigils painted onto the aircraft removed any doubt whether the VTOLs were friends or foes. Hunters and huntresses rotated their heads toward the approaching threat, drawing their weapons once more,

"Alright!" Jaune commanded, "let's show them what happens when they mess with the next defenders of the world!" A roar of consent erupted from the gathered forces. The hunters and huntresses charged toward the VTOLs' landing zone. As soon as the Grimm came down, eager students swarmed the creatures. Three of the VTOLs had Death Stalkers strapped to their bottoms. White Fang members inside these VTOLs cut the ropes binding the giant scorpion creatures, allowing them to drop down into the battle. The arrival of the Death Stalkers drove the mass of students back; the creatures seemed to be impervious to any attack that was tried.

"We have to work together to bring these things down!" Pyrrha yelled.

Jaune nodded. "Alright, team RWBY will take down the one in the left, CFVY's got the one on the right, and JNPR will take on the center one. Everybody else, focus on keeping the other Grimm of of us." Jaune pointed his sword forward "Let's do this!"

Blake charged the Death Stalker. It snapped at her with a pincer, but it only caught her semblance. She appeared above the creature and sliced downward several times, but her attacks failed to even scratch the scorpion's plating.

"Wait, stop! Strike after me!" Weiss yelled.

Weiss summoned a rupture of ice that traveled to the Death Stalker, jabbing it upward into the air. Blake got the idea. She used her weapon to grapple onto the scorpion and pulled. The creature flipped in the middle of the air, then it landed harshly onto its back. Weiss and Blake kept onto the scorpions unarmored belly, stabbing into it. The creature stopped struggling. The two leapt off of the scorpion as it evaporated.

The other two teams seemed to be handling the Death Stalkers just as well. Team JNPR simply allowed Nora to hammer the poor creature. A few moments after the first scorpion was defeated, Nora succeeded in smashing her target into pulp. Team CFVY had taken a more strategic approach. Yatsuhashi was blocking the Death Stalker's blows. Fox and Velvet swarmed on the creature's sides, slicing weak spots such as the legs. Coco simply pulled the trigger on her mini-gun and let it tear into the Grimm. It wasn't long before the last scorpion faded out of existence.

The remaining students mopped up the rest of the Grimm. They were so focused on the destruction of the Grimm that they didn't notice a trio of VTOLs fly around the side of the stadium. Only Blake noticed; she caught the attention of Weiss and Jaune and pointed toward the aircraft. Blake took chase, with Weiss and team JNPR not far behind.

-=O=-

"So, Mercury, I've been told that you've recently been… insubordinate, I believe his exact word was,." Cinder spoke harshly as three figures boarded the VTOL.

Emerald turned to Mercury, "What have you been doing this time!" Mercury simply shrugged and glared at the last person entering the vehicle.

"What do you want me to do with the girl?" Mercury's accuser asked, adjusting the weight of the unconscious person slung on his shoulder.

"We'll have to take her with this. After all, it wouldn't be strange if a little girl disappears during a massive Grimm attack," Cinder said with an all-knowing smile.

The sound of rushing feet faded in. "Is that Ruby? Get them!"

Cinder motioned to the pilot, "it's time for us to leave."

Ruby's friends could only watch as the VTOL took off, carrying Ruby away from them.


End file.
